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UK Finance has released its Mortgage Trends update for May. Highlights from the report include:

There were 32,200 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 8.1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £5.4bn of new lending in the month was 12.5 per cent more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.

There were 31,100 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 4.4 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.6bn of new lending in the month was 4.8 per cent more year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £55,000

There were 36,000 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 7.1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.3bn of remortgaging in the month was 6.8 per cent more year-on-year.

There were 5,500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 9.8 per cent fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.7bn of lending in the month, 22.2 per cent down year-on-year.

There were 14,600 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 15 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £2.3bn of lending in the month, 21.1 per cent more year-on-year.

Commenting on the data, Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance said “The mortgage market is seeing a pre-summer boost, driven by a rise in the number of first-time buyers and strong remortgaging activity. It is also particularly encouraging to see an increase in homemovers, after a period of relative sluggishness in this important segment of the market. However, affordability remains a challenge for some prospective buyers and this is reflected by a gradual increase in loan to income multiples.”

“Meanwhile purchases in the buy-to-let market continue to be constrained by recent regulatory and tax changes, the full impact of which have yet to be fully felt.”

Richard Pike, Phoebus Software Sales and Marketing Director, said“Looking at the figures for May this morning, it is important to remember that many of the mortgages completed would have been agreed up to three months before. In February we were being warned by the Bank of England to expect a rate rise sooner rather than later, which gave many people the impetus to ensure a lower rate by remortgaging. So the increase we are seeing in these figures should not really be that much of a surprise.”

“That said, it is encouraging to see the number of homemover mortgages increasing year-on-year. Despite worries earlier in the year regarding housebuilding targets, it appears that the increase in first-time-buyers is actually having an effect further up the property ladder.”